A senior lecturer at the MIT School of Engineering’s Engineering Systems Division, Coughlin will also participate in a panel discussion and networking reception 4 to 7:30 p.m. that day at Menorah Park near the Jewish Home of Central New York.

Coughlin is the founding director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, which generated a computer aid to help older shoppers choose foods based on their medical history among other innovations.

Coughlin also leads the New England University Transportation Center, a U.S. Department of Transportation-sponsored education, research and technology transfer program that funds an MIT-led consortium of schools that includes Harvard University and several of New England’s state universities.

The Oswego Alumni Association honored him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003, and his work was featured in the fall/winter 2002 OSWEGO alumni magazine. He has been the keynote speaker at Quest, the college’s annual symposium of scholarly and creative activity.

In May, he received an honorary doctor of science degree from the State University of New York.